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Adventure coming to a close

I haven’t felt like writing for a long time...so much can change in a month. My overall my experience here in Argentina has been unforgettable. I don’t want to sound like I’m leaving tomorrow because I still have three weeks left, but I definitely feel like a different person than when I arrived. I haven’t been up to much in the last month. Just sharing the daily life of one of the most beautiful families I have ever met. I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten used to certain things in the last five months that I will now miss when I leave:

--The cheek kiss. It might seem trivial and even uncomfortable at first, but somehow intentionally placing your lips so close to the face of someone you’ve never met breaks the ice and opens the door for intimacy much more quickly...I think I’ll start the trend in the US. Watch out friends, I’m probably going to plant one on you when I get back!

--Fernet and Coke. WHAT?? When I got here I didn’t understand how people even drank the bitter stuff. Now, I look forward to my host dad or his brother preparing us all a glass after Friday night asados.

--Drinking mate in the plaza. Some people have a hard time getting over the whole shared straw thing. I didn’t. I’ve never really been careful about sharing drinks and I’ve probably caught a few more bugs because of it, but in this case it worked to my advantage! There’s nothing better than feeling the strong hot tea slide down your throat and fill your whole being with warmth as a sunny fall afternoon slowly transforms into a crisp evening, all while enjoying the company of friends and the green grass and trees of the plaza.

--Going to Grido for ice cream after dinner. Strolling down the city center at night with all the lights on and the people milling about and window shopping...there’s nothing quite as enchanting as this.

--”Vamos a dar una vuelta.” or “Let’s take a loop.” This normally happens just before or after dinner and might be on foot or in the car, but usually entails just going out to see what’s going on in the city. Sometimes it includes mate and stopping in the plaza or city entrance to “charlar” (chat) and it might be as short as half an hour or last two or three hours, depending on the day, weather, conversation topic, etc. But it always ends in lots of smiles and laughs and unforgettable moments.

--Rock and Soul Bar. The first time I went here, I was with my friend Caro and we went to eat with her friends and see a band that was playing. Since then, it’s become one of my favorite spots to go out for a drink with a friend. The food is fantastic and the bands that play there are always entertaining.

--Versus, the local boliche. So many fun (and a few fuzzy) memories have been cataloged here! It’s where I learned to dance cuarteto, shared heart-to-hearts that made me feel even more welcomed into a wonderful family, and tasted champagne and speed for the first time (don’t worry, ‘speed’ is the name of a refreshing canned beverage, not a hard drug).

Honestly I’ve fallen in love with this country and the people here. My life is a movie. I haven’t decided what kind it is yet, but I could definitely write a convincing short novel, at the very least. It could then be adapted to a short film that’s a somewhat corny but whimsical tale of a girl who finds true love in another country. Plot twist, she’s actually in love with the country itself. Like all good movies that are unforgettable, some parts would pluck at your heartstrings, others would make you hate the protagonist almost as much as you love them (because hey, we’re all human right?), and it would hopefully end with a sufficiently happy ending that was neither contrived nor too depressingly close to reality.

The only thing worse than leaving Argentina is not going home. The only thing worse than not going home is leaving Argentina.

A great day to travel!

It’s a beautiful day here in Laboulaye, not unlike last weekend in Uruguay and what (hopefully) will be a warm and sunny Saturday in Córdoba and Jesús María! I have a few minutes before one of my private classes starts and so I thought I’d break the trend and type out a few lines while the sun is actually shining.

Today I’m recovering from yet another head cold...I’m starting to think I either have severe allergies or am destined to live in a state of perpetual stuffiness. Either way, I’m hoping the coming of warm weather will cure me of the sniffles. Though the real problem may be lack of sleep. Though exhausting, our trip to Buenos Aires and then one day in Uruguay was totally worth it! (We had to renew our tourist visas and one way to do that is to leave the country and return).

If you haven’t seen the pics yet, you can check them out here: http://papermoonadventures.tumblr.com/post/129847956360/papermoonadventures-4-stamps-one-day?og=1&fb_action_ids=10207913018727047&fb_action_types=tumblr-feed%3Areblog.

I took a red-eye bus from Laboulaye at 2am and arrived at the Retiro bus station in BA seven hours later, well rested from my journey on a semi-cama (semi-bed) bus seat--which was more comfortable than any airplane I’ve ever been on. I was only slightly hungry after eating an alfajor and a few crackers with dulce de leche, and drinking the little styrofoam cup of coffee all served up to me on a little tray similar to the ones on an international flight! I could get used to this. Poor Kurt had been waiting for two hours after his bus arrived early (mine was an hour late). Our friend Cami from Colombia was there waiting with him (she had generously offered to house us for the weekend). When our friend and compañera del programa, Olivia, arrived, we went straight to Cami’s apartment to drop off our things and then headed to the mall to grab a bite to eat. The Alto Palermo shopping center, just a couple blocks from Cami’s apartment, is by far the most “modern” building I’ve entered since coming to Argentina. Not that the country is underdeveloped, per se. The people here just seem to be less obsessed with excess as the citizens of the good ol’ US of A seem to be. Anyway, if I didn’t know any better, you could have convinced me that I was in any other American shopping mall.

The rest of Friday we spent leisurely walking the streets of BA on a beautiful spring-like day. That night we ate at an AMAZING burger place where I had a life-altering experience with some caramelized onions. We turned in “early” Friday night so that we could enjoy our time in Uruguay the next day.

Saturday morning we attempted to get up early, but we ended up arriving at the Buquebus terminal (that’s the ferry to Uruguay) around 10:00. As the economy class for the 12pm boat was already full, we opted to pay a few extra dollars to ride in style. That’s right people. We traveled first-class on the hour-long boat-trip to another country. Champagne and all! Not too shabby.

In Colonia, we simply sauntered around the sleepy little historic tourist magnet of a town for 7 hours. We ate an incredible thing called a Chivito which is basically the Uruguayan equivalent of a Five Guy’s burger ordered all-the-way. I highly recommend it if you ever visit. But bring your appetite because it ain’t small.

As you can see, we also snapped some photos at the waterfront and sipped some alcoholic beverages to pass the time. English Ann says, “It was a quite lovely day, I must say!” ...haha you don’t have to laugh. That was for my own entertainment. But anyway, we got the job done and now my passport has four new stamps, one for leaving and entering for each country!

Sunday we were a little sleepy, so we decided to take it easy and just rested most of the afternoon, extending the siesta period to around 4 hours haha! It was fantastic. Lots of Netflix and tea time. For dinner we went to a 50′s-themed diner that had some killer milkshakes! Yum! And that was pretty much the close to our weekend vacay. Bitter-sweet ending to a weekend that I’ll always remember with a rosy-glow...just like a good bottle of wine! (haha ok, I admit I need to get better at the joke thing)...

papermoonadventures-blog

4 Stamps. One day. #daytriptouruguay

Live band and folkloric dance at the rural! So cool =D

A beautiful Laboulaye sunset, fun with my host-mom at the rural and making my favorite recipe, and my host-brother and boyfriend in their natural habitat...

Children singing Feliz cumpleaños to their friend on her 11th birthday! (She’s actually my host parents’ niece.)

Birthdays are a big deal here! The first two pictures were taken on my birthday and of my cake (hence the sign)...the three at the bottom are cakes for two other birthday parties I went to and the decorated party room for a child’s birthday party (the rainbow cake was at that party).

Settling in...

I opened my blog today intending to upload some pictures to accompany my post from yesterday and I noticed that I had started a draft around the first or second week in August that I never finished! If you read yesterday’s post, this is more evidence for the third case when I am most likely to feel like writing...enjoy!

Today is a grey day. There’s nothing special about the weather. A still greyness has softly nestled itself between the cozy cement and tile houses here in Laboulaye. It’s unusually warm for an overcast winter day, but not uncomfortably so. And that’s kind of how I feel. Not in a sad or melancholy way, but rather like a citizen of the town in Footloose; both content and vaguely aware that something is missing at the same time. I’ve been away for a full month as of yesterday, so I guess I’m just missing family and friends. Today I taught a class about Thanksgiving. We made little turkeys from tracings of our hands and on them wrote things that we’re thankful for--which the kids loved by the way! I taught them about the history of Thanksgiving, what we do to celebrate it today, and about all the food we eat! That’s probably what did it. Talking about food, more than anything else, can make me very nostalgic. Even though I haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving dinner with my own family for four years (since I went to college), I still miss my mom’s cheesy-potato casserole and homemade dinner rolls!

Other than today, this has been a strange week full of surprises. For example, I was on tv yesterday! It’s a long story, but it starts out like this: I found a little puppy in the middle of the street. Unfortunately, that is not an unusually occurrence in and of itself here in Argentina. But this time it was different. As I was walking home, I was about to cross an intersection and as I glanced across the street I saw the most pathetic little ball of fur helplessly trying to hoist itself onto the curb with trembling little legs! It couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I couldn’t just leave it there to get hit by a car! The poor thing was barely even old enough to walk. So, I crouched down and scooped him up. I don’t know what I was thinking. What was I going to do with a puppy in a strange city where I didn’t even have my own place to live, let alone a place for him to live or an income to sustain us both?! So, I walked around the block a few times, stopping people and asking them if they recognized the puppy. I’m sure they all thought I was some crazy American who had no clue what she was doing--I was. But that’s beside the point. Finally, exasperated and at a loss for what to do, I made my way toward my homestay. On the way there, I met my host-mother who was going out to run some errands. I asked her what to do and she directed me to the “municipal”, which is basically city hall, to ask them what to do with the thing. By this time I had already been trekking around on a 60 degree day wearing a sweater and carrying bulging backback. It was another 15 minute walk to the municipal. On I went. When I arrived, the woman at the front desk told me where to take the puppy (to a vet’s office where they would find someone to take it to the pound). She also noted my accent and asked me where I was from. At the same time, a local reporter happened to be covering another story at the municipal just a few feet away, so when I mentioned that I was from the US, it must have caught her attention. Lights. Camera. Action. She came over and asked if she could interview me for the morning news! So, long story short, that’s how I was discovered and became the legend that I am today. Who knew that such a big start would be discovered by a small-town news crew in Laboulaye, Argentina?

#smalltownfamous

A certain type of feeling

I started this blog with the intention of writing only when I felt like it. That way it’s less of an obligation and more of a hobby. With this blog as evidence, I’ve concluded that I only feel like telling the world about my life on three separate occasions: when I’m having the time of my life, in the event of major life changes, and on dreary days when I’m sitting inside by the heater with a cup of tea and my laptop. In the first instance, I’m usually too preoccupied enjoying the moment with friends and family to even think about touching my keyboard. I’m slightly more likely to write about major life changes, but those only happen occasionally--not enough to sustain a regular blog. Today is the third. After possibly the most beautiful day of my life on Sunday, the weather this week took a nasty turn. It’s gray and cold and just plain gross outside. But I assume you’re not reading this for a weather report, so I’ll get on with it.

A lot has happened since I posted a month ago...I have four of my own classes now: two classes of adults, one with two teenagers, and one private lesson with an 11-year-old. I spend a majority of my free-time preparing for them when I’m not playing volleyball with a team I joined, eating asado, going to the lake with my family, or going to the gym with a friend. So really, it’s not that much time! At the institute I mostly co-teach with two other professors there. Sometimes I feel like I make more work for them than I help them...but maybe that’s just insecurity speaking. I know it’s good for the kids to hear a native accent and I really do make an effort to only speak English, especially with the older/more advanced students. Anyway, they say they appreciate me so I’ll take that as reassurance. =) Every day I’m getting better at teaching and maybe by the end of this I’ll stop getting butterflies when I hear the students outside the classroom! Haha! But, really, I do enjoy teaching English and maybe I’ll continue teaching ESL in the US as a volunteer when I return...we’ll see.

I’ve also already made a few unforgettable friends and memories. My birthday was possibly the biggest event so far. By August 14th I had only been here in Laboulaye for about three weeks, but I already felt like part of the family. On the night before my birthday Kurt was making his way here by bus and I had been invited to eat an asado with the girls on my volleyball team. He was supposed to arrive at 1:00am, so I came back from the asado around 12:15, expecting to rest a few minutes before he got here. What I found was the sweetest surprise I could have imagined! When I opened the door, I found a beautiful white cake decorated with white frosting and colorful flowers on top, a sign that read “¡¡Feliz cumpleaños Ann!!“ and sweater gift-wrapped with a bow! My family started singing to me and lit a candle for me to blow out. I almost cried. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God really did know what he was doing. When I first learned that Kurt and I would be so far apart while we were here in Argentina, I was frustrated and disheartened. But something about this place feels right. I’ve never felt so welcomed, so instantly part of a group of people.

The rest of the weekend was a dream. Kurt came and we ate asado, had great wine, enjoyed companionship of good friends, danced our hearts out at the boliche, and ate papas fritas in the plaza as we walked around enjoying the evening lights. He visited once more the next weekend because he happened to meet a man who owns a plane and was coming here on a business trip. We’ll see each other again soon! Just three more weeks at most...we’re planning a day trip to Uruguay to renew our visas...more details on that later.

The weekend of August 23rd, the second weekend Kurt visited, there was a sort-of county fair going on called the ‘rural’ (insert Spanish-accent on English word). He left on Saturday morning, so on Sunday my host mother and I went to walk around and see what we could see! It was fun =) we bought matching rings! I took an airplane ride with my host brother, his cousin, and her mother--who is now my good friend. We saw lots of farm animals and watched a folkloric dance performed with a live band. I could almost imagine myself back in the US at a state fair...the only things that were missing were cowboy hats and fried food, replaced with berets and mate.

That’s all I can think of to write right now...other than maybe a quick side note...Since being in another country, I’ve taken a strange interest in politics. Before now I’ve really had no interest in spending time learning about or listening to political rhetoric--or maybe it’s just that I understood very little and thus found it extremely boring. I can’t say that I’m an expert now, but at least I’m making an effort to understand my own country’s system better so that I can tell my students about it and answer questions my host family asks me without sounding like an idiot. So if you’re someone I care about (or even if I barely know you) and you’re reading this, please for the love of everything that’s good and just, kind and generous, do not vote for Donald Trump. I’ve never been much of one to enter into political discussions, but after seeing how hurt and offended my host-family was upon hearing his racist comments especially about Latin Americans but also about women, I cannot stay silent. Say whatever you want about what policies he might or might not enact and whether they would be effective. I believe that whether our country ends up on the very top is no more important than how we get there, who we hurt in the process, and the type of people we’re willing to put into power to do it. It hurts my heart to see that so many support this seriously misled man....that is all.

Just Argentine things

Asado, mate, fútbol, the pope, everything sweet, choripan, dogs, milanesa, empanadas, milongas, vino, boliches, Fernet, folkloric music...

Can you tell I’m hungry? Most of the things in that list are food! But one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here is that Argentinians love to eat. My kinda people! And the food is hard to beat. Over the weekend we had asado (or their version of BBQ) three times in two days. It. Was. Awesome. Also, I thought my own family eats a lot of sugar! They don’t even hold a candle to the daily amount of sugar in an average Argentinian’s diet. It’s truly impressive. I’ve also noted the comparative lack of greens on my plate. And despite the relatively unhealthy eating habits and everyone sharing the same mate straw, everyone seems to be quite healthy! My theory is that as a result of all that straw-sharing they have stronger immune systems.It’s a possibility.

So I know it’s only been a week since my last post, but it seems like a month! So much has happened. Last time I logged on, my family and I were in the little mountain town of Cosquin, enjoying the scenery and fresh air. Last Sunday at this time we were preparing to go to a fútbol game between Belgrano (the team from the province of Córdoba) and Boca (the team from the province of Buenos Aires). I thought it wouldn’t be much different from the Barcelona game I went to when I was in Spain. I was wrong. Argentines do LOVE their fútbol. In fact, in recent years people were getting so rowdy at the matches that fans of the visiting opposing team are no longer permitted to enter the stadium for home-games! As it was we watched two or three fights break out either among Belgrano fans or between Belgrano fans and Boca fans that snuck in under the guise of being Belgrano fans. Also, everyone swears. And I do mean EVERYONE. There was a little boy behind us that must have been no older than nine or ten that swore like a sailor for a solid two hours! It was really quite comical to look back and see this little pudgy, round-faced child screaming “Puta!” at the top of his lungs. After Belgrano lost 1-0 he couldn’t contain himself any longer. As his father and other family members tried to calm him down (all in good humor), he loudly pronounced, “No me puedo tranquilizar!!” As we left, we grabbed a bite at a choripan stand outside the stadium. It was mostly bread with a little chorizo in-between.

I had my first day at the English institute the day after we returned to Laboulaye. I gave the presentation I had made about myself during training to at least eight different groups over the next few days. And yesterday, Friday, I had my first solo English class with a couple of teens who wanted private lessons! My ‘alumnos’ (students) are muy lindos and I think I’m going to enjoy teaching them. Also, I love my co-workers! One of them is in the U.S. right now and I’ll be filling in for her for the next two weeks. The other is Eugenia and she has a daughter that attends classes at the institute as well as two younger sons about 7 and 8. She’s taken me out for coffee and to walk around the center a couple of times and yesterday we went for a long walk around a little lake nearby and then she invited me to her house for an asado! She and the other teacher (Vanessa) will be giving me Spanish classes when Vane returns. I’m learning so much already!

One more update. Last night my 16-year-old host-sister wanted to take me out with her friends to a boliche! Here teens start going out to boliches (clubs) when they’re about 15 and I was probably one of the oldest people there--even at 5:30am when we left! More about that later. Now we’re about to eat the customary Sunday asado! =D Chao!

#culturalexperience

Weekend mountain getaway and fútbol, a cultural experience!

Eating asado and climbing big rocks

A place to call home

I woke up in a strange bed this morning. There was a dog barking outside and turquoise walls gave the room a dream-like glow in the morning sunlight. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then smiled as a picture in a silver frame came into focus across the room. My new Argentine family!

After an early morning and an 8-hour bus ride yesterday, I finally arrived in Laboulaye, Córdoba, where I will be teaching for the next five months. At the bus station I was met by two of my new colleagues, Vane and Eugenia. They are both so sweet! We hopped in Eugenia’s car and went straight to a café “para tomar algo y charlar!” (That’s “to drink/have something and to chat”). I love this country. Over café con leche and medialunes (lightly-sweetened croissants), we chatted about everything! I got to know them a little better–where they come from, how they know each other, what their families are like, etc.–and they told me a little bit about the town–where the plaza is, where the best cafés are, what the small-town dynamics are like. They took me on a little walk to see the institute where I will be teaching, which is a cozy old apartment flat converted into an after-school program with 3 tiny classrooms, a kitchen and bathroom, and a quaint little balcony. After surveying my new office, we hopped in the car and my two new colleagues dropped me off at my new home after brief introductions with my new family! See a pattern yet? The past few days have been nothing but novelty! Luciana, my host-mother is súper linda (very nice), and su esposo, Ricardo, is also very likable. The family owns a little farmacia (not the same as a farmaceutica...just google it). I have two host-siblings, la chica is 16 and el chico is 12. They also have a tiny little perrito called Simba! He's so cute 😁 This morning I taught him to sit using little biscuits. He's a giant ball of energy in a tiny doggy body, so I had to be firm with him. Anyway, let's talk about today! When I woke up this morning, I felt renewed. It's nice to have a place to feel welcomed. A place where you belong. This family has certainly made me feel welcome from the moment I arrived! Even now as I'm writing, I'm in bed at a house they've rented out for the weekend in a little pueblo outside of Córdoba in the Sierras. They brought me on vacation with them! This morning the five of us squished all of our overnight bags and tushes into the car they bought the day before I arrived! We drove for 5 hours, making a pit stop in Córdoba to buy me a ticket to the futbol game we're going to watch on Sunday. When we arrived around 6:30, we deposited our things, purchased a few food items at a nearby grocery store, then headed over to visit some of Ricardo's family. I had no idea how long we'd be there, but we arrived there around 7:30 and didn't leave until well after midnight! It was a great time :) we sat and chatted before, during, and after dinner and I showed them my house on google maps and Wake Forest, where I attended university. We ate empanadas, milanesa, pizza, torta, and fruit--and of course washed it all down with Argentine wine! Tomorrow I think we're going for a little walk/hike and we're going to have an asado (BBQ) in the afternoon! Can't wait 😁😛

Meet Simba, my new best bud :)

Home sweet home, Argentina!

Vamos a La Plata! Had a great day visiting Paula and the little ones and La Iglesia Católica de La Plata!

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